Chapter 17

Chapter 17 is about revising and editing. Things to remember to focus on while revising your document are your situation, your argument and ideas, your sources, your organization, and your genre and design. Some revising strategies are multiple drafting, highlighting your main points, reasons, and evidence, challenging your assumptions, scanning, outlining, and mapping your document, and asking for feedback. When editing your document, focus on accuracy, economy, consistency, style, and spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Some editing strategies are reading carefully, marking and searching your document, and once again, ask for feedback. Editing and revising techniques will vary from writer to writer, but the important thing to remember is to challenge yourself. If you accept that everything you have written is pure gold, you will never make any progress in your document. Playing the “so what” game can be a great way to make sure that you have thoroughly backed up all of your arguments. Never stop editing. The more changes, the better your paper is likely to be, however it is a good idea to take a few days between edits if possible. Looking at things with fresh eyes can be a big eye-opener. Don’t be afraid to take chances with your paper. You can always go make and fix things you don’t like.